Columbia agrees to Trump admin demands in battle over funding
Image: Hiroko Masuike/NYT
On Friday, Columbia University agreed to a series of reforms demanded by the Trump administration. It’s the first step in negotiations over $400 million in federal funding revoked due to allegations of antisemitism.
A breakdown
This month, the Education Department canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts with Columbia – the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests last spring that disrupted several US campuses – due to “the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
The Trump admin laid out nine demands as a pre-condition to negotiations over restoring the funds – to which Columbia has now agreed.
- Among other things, the school will ban identity-concealing masks on campus (with religious and health exemptions), adopt a formal definition of antisemitism, and hire an internal security force that will be empowered to arrest students.
- Columbia also agreed to appoint a non-faculty member to head its Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department, as well as the Center for Palestine Studies; both were previously run by faculty.
Higher education is in the spotlight
Columbia’s situation is widely seen as a turning point in US colleges’ relationship with Washington, where the Trump admin has pledged to address what it sees as longstanding culture problems on campuses by using federal education funds to enact change.
- Last week, it paused $175 million in federal funding to UPenn for allowing a transgender athlete to compete on its swim team.
- The administration has also warned 60 colleges their federal funds could be cut if allegations of on-campus antisemitic harassment aren’t addressed, while the Education Department is investigating 45 colleges over allegations they participated in "race-exclusionary practices."
In the know: Almost all colleges – public and private – depend on the US government for access to federal student loans and grants for low-income students. Research universities also rely on additional government contracts and grants worth billions each year.
Looking ahead…Columbia and the Trump admin “are on the right track now to make sure the final negotiations to unfreeze that money [$400 million] will be in place,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said yesterday.
📊 Flash poll: In general, do you agree with the Trump admin’s recent moves to address what it sees as longstanding culture problems on US college campuses?
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that the leftward political drift present in academia is a real problem – but the Trump admin is going about it the wrong way, in an all-out attack that seems vindictive, destructive, counterproductive, and sets a bad precedent for future administrations.
- Others contend that Trump is tapping into public dissatisfaction with real problems at universities. But as is the case with their approach to trade, government waste, and other areas, many of their would-be solutions won’t solve the underlying problems or will create new ones.
- “Trump can’t fix American universities by breaking them” –Washington Post Editorial Board
- “The Authoritarian Endgame on Higher Education” –NY Times Editorial Board
- “Columbia should have said ‘see you in court’, not ‘yes, Mr President’” –Margaret Sullivan, Guardian US
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the Trump admin is right to demand sweeping changes from Columbia and other schools, who have courted this political backlash by too often abandoning their central mission of free inquiry and betraying their Jewish students.
- Others contend that Trump was right to threaten the only thing Columbia really cares about, its income, to bring change and force the school to at least pretend to address its large antisemitism problem.
- “Columbia Learns a Hard Lesson” –WSJ Editorial Board
- “Trump forced Columbia to at least PRETEND to crack down on hate” –NY Post Editorial Board
- “Cash is king at America’s lefty universities — and Trump is hitting them where it hurts” –Michael Goodwin, NY Post
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